Differential variational inequalities in \(\mathbb{R}^N\) (Q1386818)

The authors study a multivalued Cauchy problem \[ -\dot x(t)\in N_{K(t)}(x(t))+ F(t, x(t)),\quad t\in[0, b],\quad x(0)= x_0, \] where \(N_K(x)\) denotes the normal cone to the closed and convex set \(K\subset\mathbb{R}^N\) at \(x\in K\) and \(F:[0,b]\times \mathbb{R}^N\to 2^{\mathbb{R}^N}\) is a multivalued mapping. They establish the existence of extremal trajectories, i.e., trajectories which move through the extremal points of the field \(F(t,x)\). It is proved that these extremal trajectories are dense in the set of trajectories of the original system. Moreover, the authors prove that under certain hypotheses, the solution set is path-connected and depends continuously (in Vietoris and Hausdorff topologies) on the data of the problem. A periodic version of the original system is examined.